People v. Sutton

• Decision Date: 16 April 2009
• Docket Number: No. 105314.,No. 105316.,105314.,105316.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. Darryl SUTTON, Appellant and Cross-Appellee.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

908 N.E.2d 50

233 Ill.2d 89

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. Darryl SUTTON, Appellant and Cross-Appellee.

No. 105314.

No. 105316.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

April 16, 2009.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Patricia Unsinn, Deputy Defender, Shawn O'Toole, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellant and cross-appellee.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, Richard A. Devine and Anita Alvarez, State's Attorneys, Chicago (James E. Fitzgerald, Annette Collins, Veronica Calderon Malavia and Susan Schierl Sullivan, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

Justice THOMAS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant Darryl Sutton was convicted of seven counts of murder for the sexual assault and fatal shooting of Monica Rinaldi. Defendant was sentenced to four 100-year extended-term prison sentences and three natural life sentences. On appeal, the appellate court reversed defendant's conviction and remanded for a new trial based on, inter alia, its finding that the trial court had erred in admitting the hypnotically enhanced testimony of David Janik, the sole eyewitness to defendant's crime. People v. Sutton, 349 Ill. App.3d 608, 285 Ill.Dec. 723, 812 N.E.2d 543 (2004) (Sutton I). On remand, the trial court granted defendant's motion to suppress Janik's testimony and also granted defendant's motion in limine to suppress Janik's out-of-court statements to police officers pursuant to Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004).

The State then filed an interlocutory appeal, along with a certificate of substantial impairment. 210 Ill.2d R. 604(a)(1). The State argued that the trial court erred in suppressing Janik's identification of defendant without holding a pretrial evidentiary hearing to determine whether Janik's posthypnotic identifications of defendant were based on his independent prehypnotic recall. The State also appealed the trial court's rulings suppressing Janik's out-of-court statements to police officers.

The appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part. 375 Ill.App.3d 889, 314 Ill.Dec. 302, 874 N.E.2d 212 (Sutton II). The Sutton II court held that there was no need for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Janik's posthypnotic lineup identification and potential in-court identifications of defendant were based on Janik's independent prehypnotic recall, because the record clearly showed that Janik's testimony was influenced by hypnosis, making it per se inadmissible. 375 Ill. App.3d at 896, 314 Ill.Dec. 302, 874 N.E.2d 212. The Sutton II court held that, on retrial, Janik could testify only to matters that he could recall prior to hypnosis. 375 Ill.App.3d at 896, 314 Ill.Dec. 302, 874 N.E.2d 212. With regard to Janik's out-of-court statements, the Sutton II court held that Janik's statements to police officers at the scene were admissible because they were not testimonial under Crawford. See 375 Ill.App.3d at 899, 314 Ill.Dec. 302, 874 N.E.2d 212. However, Janik's statements to police in the ambulance were testimonial. 375 Ill.App.3d at 899, 314 Ill. Dec. 302, 874 N.E.2d 212. Nonetheless, the Sutton II court held that Janik's statements to police in the ambulance were admissible because Janik was available for cross-examination. 375 Ill.App.3d at 899, 314 Ill.Dec. 302, 874 N.E.2d 212. The Sutton II court rejected defendant's claim that Janik was unavailable for cross-examination by virtue of his decision to undergo hypnosis. 375 Ill.App.3d at 899, 314 Ill. Dec. 302, 874 N.E.2d 212.

Both the State and defendant filed petitions for leave to appeal the Sutton II court's decision. 210 Ill.2d R. 315(a). This court allowed both petitions and consolidated the cases.

BACKGROUND

Shortly after midnight on February 14, 1991, police responded to calls of a man banging on doors and ringing the doorbells of homes on Forest Avenue in Brookfield, Illinois. When the officers arrived on the scene several minutes later, they saw a man with blood on his face and on his clothing, staggering down the front porch stairs of a home. The man, David Janik, walked up to the officers and told them that he had been shot and robbed and that his girlfriend also had been shot. When the officers asked Janik who shot him, he told them that the offender was a black male, 30 to 35 years old, with a moustache, wearing a dark coat and dark hat. When the officers asked where the offender had gone, Janik pointed to an alley. Janik also told the officers that his girlfriend was in her car, parked in an alley two houses north. The officers discovered Janik's girlfriend, Monica Rinaldi, lying across the backseat of her car, naked except for a pair of socks on her feet. Rinaldi had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

Officer Timothy Moroney rode with Janik in the ambulance to the hospital. In the ambulance, Janik told Moroney that he and Rinaldi were parked in a parking lot and were kissing when a man got into the car on the driver's side. The man forced Janik and Rinaldi over to the passenger's side. Janik described the man as a black man, about 30 to 35 years old, with a moustache, wearing a dark coat and hat. Janik told Moroney that the man drove off, and eventually stopped near a pet store called Archer Puppies, where he forced Janik to get inside the trunk of the car. Janik told Moroney that after driving for a length of time, the car stopped again and he heard gunshots from inside the car. The man then opened the car's trunk and shot Janik in the head. Janik eventually was able to open the hatchback from the trunk and exit the car through the driver's side door.

At the hospital, doctors determined that the bullet had traveled through Janik's left temporal region and had lodged in his upper right shoulder. The bullet did not penetrate the cranium or cause any major vascular injuries. Although Janik was neurologically intact, he suffered amnesia concerning the offense and could not remember anything from the time he left work on February 13, 1991, until he awoke in the hospital. Janik was in the hospital for five or six days. During that time, he had no independent recollection of the offense, but learned some of the details from his family and friends. After he was released, Janik viewed police mug books, but was unable to identify his assailant.

Thereafter, in an effort to regain his memory of the crime, Janik began seeing Dr. Steven Ries in March 1991. Janik continued seeing Dr. Ries through December 1991. During therapy, Janik underwent guided imagery and dream interpretation, as well as hypnosis. Janik could not recall the exact number of times he had been hypnotized, but he believed it was more than once. Janik testified that he did not believe that he could visualize or remember the offender's face on April 19, 1991. Janik could not recall whether he still had difficulty visualizing the offender's face on May 11, 1991. Janik said that his memory came back in bits and pieces, and he eventually regained his memory of the entire evening. He did not think he regained any more memories of the incident after he stopped seeing Dr. Ries.

A composite sketch of Janik's assailant was prepared, although there was conflicting testimony concerning when the sketch was made. Detective Michael Manescalchi testified at trial that he drew the composite sketch of the offender on February 28, 1991, based on information provided by Janik, although Manescalchi had testified at a pretrial hearing that he was uncertain whether someone helped him prepare the sketch. Janik, however, testified that his memory of the assailant came back to him while he was seeing Dr. Ries. Janik stated that after he remembered what the assailant looked like following a session with Dr. Ries, he asked an artist friend to help him draw the sketch. Janik gave the completed sketch to Detective Manescalchi. Janik testified that he never sat down and drew a sketch with Detective Manescalchi.

In September 1991, during the course of his therapy with Dr. Ries, Janik provided Detective Manescalchi with a more detailed description of his assailant. Janik now described the assailant as a black male, approximately 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighing 175 pounds, with a moustache, medium skin, and black hair cut very short and neat. Janik said that the assailant wore a caramel-colored leather driving hat with a matching leather jacket.

Janik also provided Manescalchi with a more detailed and slightly different version of the offense. Janik said that on the night of the offense, he and Monica left a bar called Sock Hops and walked to her car. Monica was in the driver's seat and he was in the passenger seat when the offender opened the driver's side door all the way, pointed a gun and told Monica to move over. Janik told Manescalchi that the offender turned on the windshield wipers, turned the lights on, and kept checking the mirrors. The offender asked for Janik's wallet and put it in his lap when Janik gave it to him. Janik described the route taken by the offender and said that the offender told him, "If you I.D. me, I will kill you." After driving for awhile, the offender stopped the car in an alley, told Janik to get out, opened the trunk of the car and told Janik to get in. Janik now said that he was shot as he put one foot in the trunk of the car.

The next thing Janik heard was mumbling, then he heard someone moving around in the car. The car was shaking, and Janik started screaming and kicking the backseat. The offender yelled to Janik to be quiet. The car stopped shaking and Janik heard a shot and smelled gunpowder. Janik then heard the car door open and close. The offender yelled at Janik through the trunk, "I didn't want to shoot you but if you I.D. me, I will shoot [sic] you." Janik remembered coughing up blood...